The brother of Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James was tonight cleared of causing a pensioner’s death by careless motorway driving.

Daniel Mitchell’s Porsche Cayenne S ploughed into the back of 73-year-old Mollie Haines’ stranded Nissan Almera, killing her outright and sending her car spinning down the road in flames.

She had been stuck in fast-flowing motorway traffic after being unable to get her car going again following an earlier jam on the southbound M40 near Beaconsfield, Bucks.

Trial: Mollie Haines (left), 73, was killed when her stranded Nissan Almera was struck from behind by Daniel Mitchell(right)’s Porsche Cayenne on the M40 motorway near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, in July 2012

Mr Mitchell, a 48-year-old
professional lorry driver and logistics co-ordinator, had been driving
from a doctor’s appointment to his work in Iver, Bucks., when the crash
happened, just before 10am on July 18 last year.

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In his police interview hours after the crash he told officers: 'I just didn’t see this car. I just hit this car in lane two.

'I didn’t expect this car to be in lane two. It was just there.

Daniel Mitchell is the brother of E.L. James - author of the best-selling Fifty Shades of Grey series

'People who look at the Porsche think ‘well, he drives like Michael Schumacher’, which I don’t.'

As
an experienced HGV driver he said he was used to driving in lane one of
the motorway at no more than 56mph and that when in his own car he
would travel between 60 and 70mph.

However, prosecution and defence experts concluded that before the crash he had been driving at a minimum speed of 70mph.

The
defendant also said that he normally drove in lane one of the motorway
and that the fact that he was in lane two meant he must have overtaken
somebody.

Beyond that he had limited memory of the tragic events.

He said: “All I remember is just looking and realising this car is stationary.

“I think I tried to swerve. I don’t think I even had a chance to brake.”

He informed officers he drove 'the best part of 50,000 to 60,000 miles a year all across Europe' and had never had an accident.

Prosecutors argued that other drivers had seen and managed to avoid Mrs Haines’ car but he had not.

The
defence countered that by pointing out that a witness described a
number of near misses, one driver had not seen the obstruction but had
it pointed out to him by his passenger and another suspected had the
neighbouring lane not been free for him to swerve into, he would have
hit the Nissan.

Mrs Haines,
a retired orthoptist and golf club president from Bromsgrove, in the
West Midlands, was on her way to Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey, to
visit her daughter and grandchildren.

When she realised there was a problem she called her husband Charles, who told her to contact the AA.

Fireball: The collision's force sent Mrs Haines's vehicle spinning along the southbound carriageway of the M40 motorway, before it burst into flames

Another
motorist pulled onto the hard shoulder and dialled 999 and a Highways
Agency worker then turned a camera and zoomed in on the Nissan, only to
watch helplessly as the Porsche slammed into it seconds later.

Following the verdict, Judge Francis Sheridan said: 'If ever there was a case for a jury, this was it.'

Adding
that it had been a distressing case for both families, he asked
everyone to leave the court in silence as a mark of respect to Mrs
Haines.

Neither Mr
Mitchell, of The Common, Flackwell Heath, Bucks., nor the Haines family
wished to comment as they left the court, in Amersham.

Mr
Mitchell’s older sibling, Erika, wrote the erotic novel Fifty Shades of
Grey which became a global sensation last year, selling more than 70
million copies.

Wreckage: Mithcell told the jury as an experienced lorry driver he was used to driving in lane one

Jake Slade, who had been driving his
BMW 320 along the same southbound carriageway, told the court: 'That
section of the M40 is quite windy and as you come round to that
particular junction your visibility is only 200 to 300 yards.

'I was in lane two and I became aware
of a vehicle that wasn't moving particularly fast but I wasn't aware as
to whether it had come to a complete stop.

'I was about 150 to 200 yards behind when I realised it wasn't moving at all.

'I braked very heavily. If I hadn't braked so heavily I probably wouldn't have stopped in time.'

He changed lanes, passed the car and pulled onto the hard shoulder and dialled 999.

The witness said he could not remember
seeing any hazard lights on on the Nissan when he was approaching from
behind but did see them flashing when looking back at it in his mirror
from the hard shoulder.

Investigation: Mitchell told police after the crash: 'I didn't even have time to brake'

He saw a woman aged in her 60s or 70s inside, who appeared to be either looking at the dashboard or slumped forward.

'Vehicles were missing the car narrowly,' he said.

'The motorway got very busy very quickly and it became more and more difficult for cars to avoid her.'

He did not see the impact itself but was aware of the Nissan suddenly shooting forwards and then spinning and being on fire.

Other motorists remembered seeing the
vehicle but only becoming aware of it seconds before either having to
pass it or before the collision.